Overheard at Digital Banking 2017
June 26, 2017 8:00 AM
Overheard at Digital Banking 2017
The following are some of the noteworthy things we heard at American Banker’s Digital Banking 2017 conference held earlier this month in Austin, Texas.
Brian Birzer
Whose mobile services do digital bankers like? “Definitely not financial services,” said Jamie Armistead (far right), executive vice president of digital channels for San Francisco-based Bank of the West, in response to that question, posed by American Banker’s Editor at Large Penny Crosman (far left). Bank of America’s Michelle Moore lauded retailer and food chain apps that tied into store experiences; Regions Financial’s Andy Hernandez said he is “addicted” to the traffic app Waze. Armistead picked Uber and Google as examples of companies committed to continually improving their experience.
"I personally find it a pain point now to have to pick up the phone and open the weather app," said Gareth Gaston, executive vice president of omnichannel at U.S. Bank. "Who would have thought that the weather app would be a pain point? Now I just say, 'Alexa, what's the weather today?' Why can't I just say, 'Alexa, what's my balance ?' "
Brian Birzer
"We're disrupting the way Citi operates. We break glass, and that's not a term that's often used in banking ," said Yolande Piazza, CEO of Citi FinTech.
"Customers are not spending much time on their banking apps," said Brett Pitts, head of digital at Wells Fargo. He later added that people prefer to spend their time on mobile “finding out what's happened with their friends, communicating with other people, messaging, following the Kardashians — there's all kinds of things people want to do instead of banking.”
Brian Birzer
“The days of ‘If you build it, they will come’ are long over,” said Michael Rhodes, head of consumer bank at TD Bank, on how banks need to pursue technology that solves real customer problems instead of chasing "the next shiny thing."
CHRIS APPOLDT
"Creating a PowerPoint with the customer in the middle doesn't make you customer centric,” says Melissa Stevens, chief digital officer and head of omnichannel banking at Fifth Third Bancorp.
